Twomey  Jennings
Anderson’s Business Law and the Legal Environment, Comprehensive 20e
Anderson’s Business Law and the Legal Environment, Standard 20e
Business Law: Principles for Today’s Commercial Environment 2e
Chapter 50
Environmental Law and
Land Use Controls
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
A Division of Thomson Learning
Introduction
• The regulations of land use consist of
environmental laws and zoning.
• Environmental laws exist at both the state
and the federal levels.
• Environmental laws are primarily enforced
at the federal level by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), but other federal
and state agencies enforce environmental
laws, using criminal and civil penalties and
injunctions to halt pollution.
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Statutory Environmental Law
• Clean Air Act: limits on emissions and
permits for discharges.
• Clean Water Act: permit requirements,
discharge prohibitions, and treatment
standards.
• Solid Waste Disposal: Resource Recovery
Act and CERCLA (Superfund).
– limitations on dumping and liability for cleanup
when hazardous materials are found on property.
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Other Regulations
• Endangered Species Act: protects
endangered species.
• Safe Drinking Water Act requires the EPA
to establish national standards for
contaminants.
• Oil Pollution Act imposes liability for oil
spills as well as safety standards for oil
tankers.
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Enforcement of
Environmental Laws
• Criminal – most federal environmental
laws carry criminal penalties of fines or
imprisonment for violations.
• Civil – the EPA may also get a courtordered injunction to halt an activity
which violates a standard.
• Private Action – individuals may bring
suit against a violator if conduct
constitutes a nuisance.
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Penalties for Violations of Federal
Environmental Laws
Act
Penalties
Private Suit
Clear Air Act
$25,000 per day, up to 1 year
imprisonment, or both; $5,000
field citations, $10,000 rewards
Citizen suits authorized, EPA
suits for injunctive relief
Clean Water Act
$25,000 per day, up to 1 year
imprisonment, or both
Citizen suits authorized, EPA
suits for injunctive relief
Resource
Conservation and
Recovery Act
$25,000 per day, up to 1 year
imprisonment, or both
No private suits, Hazardous
Substance/ Response Trust
Fund for cleanup, EPA suits for
injunctive relief and
reimbursement of trust funds
Oil Pollution Act
$25,000 per day, or $1,000 per
barrel ($3,000 per barrel if
willful or negligent), $250,000
and/or 5 years for failure to
report
Private actions in negligence
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Nuisances
• A nuisance is a public or private
interference with the use and enjoyment of
land, and individuals can bring suit to halt
nuisances.
• Courts analyze the balance between the use
and enjoyment of land and the economic
interests of all of the parties involved.
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Types of Nuisances
Nuisance: Conduct that unreasonably interferes with the enjoyment or use
of land. Conduct that has a negative effect upon others without being
balanced by a benefit to society.
Private
(affects one or
a few persons)
Public
(affects a
community)
Nuisance Per Se
(nuisance in all
situations)
Copyright © 2008 by West Legal Studies in Business
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Permanent
(single act with
permanent
damage)
Nuisance in Fact
(nuisance in
certain situations)
Continuing
(series of
related acts)
Criminal
(place where
illegal acts
repeatedly occur)
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Land Use Controls
• Restrictive covenants in deeds are valid
land use restrictions that pass from owner
to owner and are enforceable so long as
they do not violate any constitutional
rights.
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Land Use Controls
• Zoning is a public means of regulating
land use through zoning laws that are part
of an overall plan for development.
– Some landowners can obtain variances from
zoning laws, and some preexisting uses are
permitted to continue with the protection of
a nonconforming use.
• Non-conforming use.
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A Division of Thomson Learning
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